UN rights chief seeks $500 mn, warns lives are at risk

The UN human rights chief appealed on Thursday for $500 million in funding for 2025 to support its work such as investigating human rights abuses around the world from Syria to Sudan, warning that lives hang in the balance.

The UN human rights office has been grappling with chronic funding shortages that some worry could be exacerbated by cuts to US foreign aid by President Donald Trump.

The annual appeal is for funds beyond the allocated UN funds from member states' fees, which make up just a fraction of the office's needs.

"In 2025, we expect no let-up in major challenges to human rights," High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told member states in a speech at the UN in Geneva.

"I am very concerned that if we do not reach our funding targets in 2025, we will leave people...to struggle and possibly fail, without adequate support," he said.

He said any shortfall would mean more people remain in illegal detention; that governments are allowed to continue with discriminatory policies; violations may go undocumented; and human rights defenders could lose protection.

"In short, lives are at stake," he said.

The human rights office gets about 5 per cent of the regular UN budget, but the majority of its funding comes voluntarily in response to its annual appeal announced on Thursday.

Western states give the most, with the United States donating $35 million last year or about 15 per cent of the total received in 2024, followed by the European Commission, UN data showed. Still, the office received only about half of the $500 million it sought last year.